Gwangju Superintendent of Education's Statute of Limitations Missed by Police, 'Warning Without Punishment'

Two police officers who missed the statute of limitations during the investigation of Gwangju Superintendent of Education Lee Jeong-seon's alleged illegal election campaigning received a non-disciplinary warning.

The Gwangju Police Agency announced on the 1st that its disciplinary committee issued non-disciplinary warnings to two employees of the agency.

They were assigned to investigate the case involving violations of the Local Education Autonomy Act and the Personal Information Protection Act by Superintendent Lee, but missed the statute of limitations and were subjected to an internal inspection for negligence.

Although a minor disciplinary action of 'reprimand' was decided for them, their commendation records were taken into account as mitigating factors, resulting in both being given a 'non-disciplinary warning.'

A non-disciplinary warning is not a legal disciplinary action but is an administrative measure that may cause some personnel disadvantages.

The case began when a voter residing in Gyeongnam, a different region, filed a complaint through the National Sinmungo after receiving a text message soliciting support from then-candidate Lee for Gwangju Superintendent of Education ahead of last year's nationwide local elections.

The police applied charges of violating the Education Autonomy Act (restriction on transmission of election campaign information) based on evidence that text messages influencing the election were distributed in violation of current laws.

The charge of transmission restriction is subject to the Public Official Election Act, which has a statute of limitations of six months from the election day, but the police failed to complete the investigation within the statute of limitations and closed the case with a 'no prosecution' disposition.

It is reported that the internal inspection of the officers began after the prosecution raised concerns about the expiration of the statute of limitations due to the delay in the investigation.